Eagles' Chris Long wades into gun debate, arming school teachers

Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Chris Long during a press conference at Mall of America.

In the aftermath of last month's deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the national debate about preventing gun violence and advancing legislative reform has resurfaced with an intensity not seen in the United States in several years.

Student protests across the country, urging responsible solutions to improve school security, have generally identified ease of access to deadly weapons as the primary cause of mass shootings that have devastated American communities time and again.

The alternative suggestion to arm and train teachers — an idea critics say fails to address scenarios like the shootings in Las Vegas and Orlando — has taken a particularly contentious tone over the past week.

Opponents of the policy argue forcefully that arming teachers not only runs counter to the Second Amendment's anti-authoritarian moral, but places students at much higher risk of accidents, conflict escalation and racially-motivated violence and intimidation, as has been documented in incidents involving armed school resource officers.

Long took to Twitter on Wednesday to share his thoughts about the gun debate and the proposal to arm teachers, responding to several fans who questioned his thinking along the way. His position appears to be that it would be wiser, in the absence of more extensive gun reform, to better arm police than to put guns in the hands of teachers.

67M in FLA to train+arm teachers? Put similar energy+resources into helping them do their actual jobs: educating. Could increase police presence @ schools (serve+PROTECT). What officers? Eliminating the war on drugs=surplus. Existing guns in hands of pros w/o selling more 4 NRA.

Confusing fantasy, but also confusing to me that ppl who love+trust police wouldn’t want em to be the most heavily armed. Or some ppl believe in the freedom to own an AR but not the freedom to smoke a joint. Confusing times. I’m sure I’m a delusional hippy. I own multiple 🔫 BTW.

Side note: I’m aware the AR is similar in some ways to other less controversial guns, but I just see it used for this function so often. You’ll have to tell me why this coincidence occurs. I’m not trying to attack anyone. I think everyone is concerned about this trend. I hope.

To be crystal clear, this is a conversation in response to wanting to arm teachers. Why teachers? Why not police? Seems to me that it’s bc police already have guns. You’d get to sell guns to teachers. More guns in America rather than reform. https://t.co/zzZKeJxrRq

Actually trying to sequentially argue semantics with people who want to arm teachers, all of whom trust the police, yet feel like it’s a job better suited for teachers. Why is that? https://t.co/r934N0QCzK

Sorry if I didn’t articulate that well enough. Police in schools is not my first thought as I watch this stuff unfold. It’s reform, but to someone who says arm folks in schools, I’m wondering why it’d be teachers not police. If you say we don’t have enough, I’d say you’re wrong.

That certainly isn’t the intent. The intent is an exercise in trying to understand these folks argument for teachers buying a massive amount of guns and spending millions nationally to train them. It’s an exercise in confirming there is no argument. https://t.co/nMM2pMe3BX

Every convo has racial implications but the strategy of arming teachers is not racial at its core. It’s a deflection mechanism from gun control, aiming to sell more guns to a country that has more per capita than any developed nation. all I got tonight, Twitter is exhausting.

As Long joked in one of his tweets, he may just be "a delusional hippie." At least he's self-aware. Those who question his use of celebrity and a broad reach on Twitter to exert influence should keep in mind that he clearly feels a sense of responsibility as a public figure.

As we've learned here in Philly, Long is not a "shut up and dribble" kind of professional athlete. There are plenty of athletes who will stay away from politics. Those who do invite intelligent debate should be given credit for stimulating discussions that motivate others to research and learn about their world.